page_title: Anni-Frid Lyngstad
section_title: 1982–1984: International solo career
hierarchical_section_title: Anni-Frid Lyngstad / Career / 1982–1984: International solo career
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Aankomst Abba-zangeres Frida op Schiphol
context_page_description: Princess Anni-Frid, Countess of Plauen, better known by her nickname Frida, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer, songwriter, and environmentalist. She is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the Swedish pop band ABBA.
  Born in Bjørkåsen to a Norwegian mother and a German soldier father, she grew up in Torshälla, Sweden, and started her first solo career there, as a jazz singer in 1967, through a talent competition called New Faces. She won the competition with her song, "En ledig dag", leading to a television appearance on Hylands Hörna on Dagen H; as a result, she was signed by EMI, and in turn was signed by Stig Anderson's record label, Polar Music, after years of releasing several singles and an album, Frida under the earlier record label. Although she had moderate success in Sweden, as she was a contestant for Melodifestivalen 1969 with her song "Härlig är vår jord", she did not reach international fame until she joined ABBA, which has sold over 350 million albums and singles worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music acts in history.
context_section_description: In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post-ABBA solo album. This was also her first solo album in English. The Phil Collins-produced album called Something's Going On became a big success for Frida worldwide. A much rockier sound was found on many of the songs and Phil Collins' drum sound had a major contribution, particularly on the lead single, "I Know There's Something Going On", which topped the charts in Belgium and Switzerland, and was a top 5 hit in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Sweden amongst others. With the song and video being heavily promoted and played on MTV, the single also proved successful in the United States, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and No. 9 on Radio & Records) in March 1983, and was the 20th biggest selling single in the US that year. In the UK, the track was not a successful hit, only reaching No. 43.
  The album itself received good reviews, with Billboard writing: "ABBA's auburn-haired songstress makes a bold solo project a stunning success", while Mark Coleman described the album in the third edition of Rolling Stone Album Guide as "a sharp, rock-oriented, delightfully eclectic album". William Cooper had a similar opinion in AllMusic: "Frida escapes the creative limitations of being a member of one of the world's most popular groups on this solid and often riveting album". Swedish Television SVT documented this historical event by filming the whole recording process. The result became a one-hour TV documentary, including interviews with Frida and Phil, Björn and Benny, as well as all the musicians involved with the album. Owing to the success of the album (selling 1.5 million copies worldwide), and its lead single, Frida was voted "Best Female Artist Of The Year" 1982, by the readers of Sweden's biggest evening paper Aftonbladet, receiving the Swedish Music Award Price Rockbjörnen.
  In 1983, Lyngstad assisted with Abbacadabra, and recorded one of the tracks with two different male vocalists in different languages, including Frenchman Daniel Balavoine on the track "Belle" and on the English version "Time" with B. A. Robertson produced by Mike Batt. This track was a cover of "Arrival", an instrumental track from the ABBA album of the same name.
  Lyngstad's next album was Shine (1984). This album was recorded at Studios De La Grande Armée in Paris, France and produced by Steve Lillywhite, known for his work with artists like Peter Gabriel, U2, the Rolling Stones, Morrissey and Kirsty MacColl amongst others. Lillywhite was only 29 when this album was recorded and he gave Frida a very experimental sound and managed to create a relaxed atmosphere in the studio. The album had much less success than hoped, though it reached the Top 20 in many European countries, No. 6 in Sweden being its highest position.
caption: Lyngstad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 1982
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